Best SciFi/Fantasy to Film Adaptations

Welcome to the SciFlicks SQUAD! Forums.

You are currently viewing our community boards as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions, articles and access our other FREE features. By joining our free and open-minded sci-fi community you will be able to start and reply to forum discussions, write movie reviews, communicate privately with other members (PM), respond to polls and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join our community today!

If you have any problems with the registration process or with your account please contact support here.

Reading Room

Your quiet and comfy lounge to pick up a great book and discuss sci-fi literature.

In attempting to compile a top ten list I came across a couple of problematic issues. Firstly, it seems that most of the best science fiction films based on literature are, in and of themselves, very (ofter very, very, very) loose adaptations of the novels/short stories/graphic novels from which they sprang. A great example is Blade Runner, a classic film that tops nearly everyone's top five list yet can be argued to be a very weak adaptation of the novel itself. On the other end of the spectrum, the consistently listed greatest of all Science Fiction novels Dune has led to two very bad films.

That said, here is my list of top five SF films based on novels:

1. Blade Runner adapted from Philip K. Dic k's novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep.
2. 2001 A Space Odyssey from Arthur C. Clarke's novel of the same name.
3. The Lord of the Rings arguably the best fantasy literature to film ever made (and should remain until the end time I would think).
4. Logan's Run a somewhat dated adaptation of the novel. A few changes to the text but overall very faithful in its adaptation.
5. Minority Report decent adaptation, decent film despite Tom Cruise.

And the bottom five:

1. Dune - The Lynch version is absolutely awful and no amount of excuses from Director, Producer, or fan can account for the huge missteps with this adaptation which, frankly, started with a very poor choice for director.
2. Battlefield Earth - an average SF novel turned into a complete trash heap of a film, camp city.
3. Earthsea - absolute SciFi Channel butchery of a classic fantasy series poised to make its jump into film after the success of Potter and LOTR.
4. Starship Troopers - not my favorite Heinlein novel but in the hands of more serious writers this could have been a great film.
5. I, Robot - awful butchery of Asimov's master work.